


With These Changes Comes

by Lady_Katana4544



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec and Jace are exasperated, Canon-Typical Violence, Clary has questions, F/F, Femslash, Gen, Isabelle Has Some Feels, M/M, Other characters make brief appearances, Slash, okay the violence is mostly off screen, strongly implied poly relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7405534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Katana4544/pseuds/Lady_Katana4544
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which more changes come, including a few surprises along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With These Changes Comes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magnetgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/gifts).



> I was delighted when I first saw this on my assignment page and decided to have fun with the prompt since I had been watching the series and have been rereading the books. Also thank you to my friend, meph, for agreeing to edit this fic for me and help me find all the problem areas that needed to be less problematic.
> 
>  

“They want us to do what?”

Isabelle lifts her eyes up from the nail file in her hands at the loud, incredulous sound of Clary’s wail. She met her older brother’s eyes across the room with a raised eyebrow. He shrugs one shoulder in answer before he looks away to follow Jace’s slow movements with his eyes. 

She is not jealous of their bond. They are _Parabatai_ and have had that bond between them since they were young boys. She herself is no longer of age to do the ritual and bond herself to another Shadowhunter.

She is not jealous. And yet, she is envious of it. She can’t deny that the feelings are actually there, it’s stupid to be jealous of it. Yet she is, and there’s a part of her that wishes she could find someone to be _Parabatai_ with her.

Most Shadowhunters don’t ever find someone to be their _Parabatai_. And she’s never heard of anyone finding theirs beyond childhood. Neither has she ever heard of cases where the Council has decided to be lenient and allow older two Shadowhunters complete the _Parabatai_ bond ritual.

And yet there’s Clary.

Someone whom she’s become rather fond of, oddly enough. A girl that somehow makes her heart fill with warmth where no other person, save Jace and her brothers have done so. Bright, beautiful Clary, who even now made it startlingly easy to forget that even after three months among them that she still didn’t quite know everything that her fellow Shadowhunters had known for ages.

She knows well enough that the girl doesn’t know a thing about _Parabatai_ or the ritual that comes with forming that bond between two Shadowhunters. Would Clary even be interested in learning about that?

Isabelle watches in silence as Beatriz Mendoza - one of the older mentors that currently stayed with the New York Shadowhunters - her face a cool mask behind vintage horn rimmed glasses; coldly impassive. Even among Shadowhunters, Shadowhunter Mendoza was known for her coldness towards her allies and she had never been known for her compassion when new Shadowhunters like Clary found their way into the fold.

It is simply not in her way to be anything else. For according to her, showing weakness in the field would get you and others killed.

Sometimes Council would feel the need to be active in the lives of those under their care and issue commands for Shadowhunter teams to do team-building things, or risk being forced out of the field until the orders were followed.

“I think you heard very well what I said, Clarissa Fairchild.”

Isabelle watches as Clary nods, her shoulders stiff with an air of uncertainty in the face of that cool, shrewd stare.

“Yeah. I did. I just…”

“Just what?”

Finally Isabelle stands up, drawing attention to herself so that no one except her brother, Jace, and herself take note of the relief that Clary exudes when the attention moves away from her. She smiles brightly and adopts a cocky manner.

“Don’t worry, Mendoza. We can handle following the Council’s orders.”

“Really.”

“Sure can. Besides...”

Isabelle turns her head slightly to look at Clary and smiles at her, taking note of the flush in Clary’s cheeks. It would definitely be interesting to live with someone who was not her brothers or Jace.Someone who obviously had not shared an apartment with anyone besides her family.

“Besides… I think we can handle it.”

“Hm. We shall see.”

Clearly dismissed for the moment as Jace and her older brother move in to catch Mendoza’s attention, to discuss further specifics, she moves silently to stand at Clary’s right side. Clary tilts her head towards her slightly, though her attention is obviously focused on the others.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

Things always got interesting when the Council decided that they needed to give orders and have a hand in everyone’s lives. Although it did mean that she would be closer to Clary too for quite awhile.

0

“Izzy?”

“Need something, Alec?”

Isabelle doesn’t look up from the book that she’s been pretending to read when the knock on her door comes. Only a few people ever knocked on her door. Sometimes it was her parents when they wanted something.

Alec and Jace only did it when they felt the need to polite about manners or something of that sort.

Max didn’t do it very often since he wasn’t the most patient of little boys in the world and was most often just a whirlwind of energy whenever he came rolling through with their parents.

Now that she thinks about it, her bedroom had been open already as she glances up to watch as Alec enters her room and lightly closes the door behind him.

He sits on the edge of her bed as she puts the book down.

“It was good of you to stand up to Mendoza for Clary earlier.”

“Yeah well, Mendoza would have eaten her alive if I hadn’t diverted her attention. You or Jace would have done the same thing.” Izzy says, dismissing his praise. 

Alec breathes out a soft sigh but presses on. . “We might have sure. But you did it instead, and I’m curious as to why,” he continues, “you were keen on being Mendoza’s apprentice once upon a time. You have also never been one to stand up for a relatively new Shadowhunter.”

“Well…” She hedges, finding it hard to look away from those soft knowing eyes. “I think it’s because outside of our family… I’ve actually become fond of our resident bubbly redhead. To an alarmingly high rate, Alec.”

“I’ve never seen you like this before, Izzy. Is there anything else?” He said with a knowing look his eyes.

Damn little brothers. She never could keep much from him, but he had choose now to be perceptive.

“Yeah kinda. Do you remember how when we were younger, how you looked at Jace and knew he was one that you wanted to be _Parabatai_ with?”

Isabelle watches as Alec’s eyes widen subtly.

“And you’re certain that you’ve found yours? Now?” He asked, not quite believing her.

“Yeah.”

“And you think that it is…”

“Yeah.”

Alec let out a slow whistle..

“If you’re absolutely certain about this, Izzy. Then we’ll deal with the situation as best we can.”

Neither of them hear the stifled sound that Clary makes against her hand, hidden behind the wall eavesdropping. Nor does she actually notice that Jace has seen her standing there from one of the doorways down the little hallway, before quietly shutting the door and going back to the task of packing some of his things together that he would need.

0

Clary sits next to one of the boxes that the others had set down in what she thought would likely be their living room area of their new shared apartment given to them by the Council.

Why did the Council seem to care so much about it or about the four of them working together?

The question fluttered through Clary’s mind.

“Well don’t you look lost in thought.” Clary hears the sardonic tone of Jace’s voice breaking into her thoughts. 

She looks up to watch as Jace and Alec walk into the sitting room together, both of them moving to lean against a sofa or chair. A moment later Izzy followed them in and sat on a stool between the two boys.

Clary nods slightly. “Yeah. I had a lot on my mind and I didn’t sleep very well.”

Isabelle leaned towards her as Jace and Alec shared a look over her head.

“Anything that the three of us can help with?”

Clary smiles and shrugs one shoulder.

“Probably.” Clary says, dryly. “You guys are the ones I totally look for when I have questions about something. I’m not bothering you guys from other tasks am I?” Clary furrows her brows, worried.

Jace shakes his head. 

“It isn’t really bothering us if we can provide you with any answers. All of us, including those Shadowhunters here in the city, do our best to help answer the questions from new brothers and sisters.” Jace says, in a rare show of helpfulness. “You included, since your mother, managed very well to make sure that you were kept ignorant of our world until she no longer couldn’t.”

“Right, if you say so.” Clary said, unconvinced.

For a moment, they watch as Clary is silent as if thinking of a question that will likely wants to ask. Eventually she looks at Jace.

“Why is the Council is so concerned about our ability to work together as a team that they ordered the four of us to start living together?”

She watches as Alec glances at Jace with an apparent question in his eyes that Jace nods at him in answer. He moves then to sit down on a chair nearer to her, his eyes serious.

“They are mostly concerned more about you and how useful you will be in the field, Clary, rather than the three of us.”

She glances over his shoulder at Isabelle and tries to ignore the fluttering in her heart at the attention that the other girl is giving her. She remembers the bit of conversation about something called “parabatai”, between Izzy and Alec that she had listened in on, the other night. Clary isn’t certain on what this means for her yet; only that something about the other girl has caught her interest. She isn’t quite sure to make of how she feels exactly about Izzy yet.

“Why not you three?”, Clary asks while looking at each of them in turn.

He tilts his head slightly to the right, watching her with calm eyes.

“Our superiors have known of us ever since we were born and then became Shadowhunters. You on the other hand, they know nothing about except whom your mother was. An unknown that they would like to have knowledge of about the usefulness of you and your abilities in the field.”

“That makes sense, I guess.” Clary still isn’t buying it, but she has to admit the Council did some really weird shit sometimes. She nods then as she looks at them. “So, how do we do this roommate thing then?”

A thoughtful look crosses over Jace’s face as they all watch, before he asks his own question.

“How do the Mundanes do these things?”

Clary throws her hands up in a mute “I don’t know”, resolutely, ignoring how intently Isabelle seems to be watching her whenever her body moves in a position.

“I don’t really know. I have only ever lived with my mom so I wouldn’t know how these things work. Though Simon used to mention how he and any past roommates he had, would come up with house rules and a chore list for everyone to agree to follow.”

Jace nods, that same ‘serious as the dead expression’ on his face, as Isabelle rolls her eyes with a small smirk as she mouths the word, chores, at her brother who only shrugs in response. Now why was that necessary for her to do?

“Right. Well I think the first rule would be no bringing Mundanes here.”, Jace says with finality. 

“What? Why?” Anger rises in her chest at the thought of her friends being banned from the apartment simply because they weren’t like Isabelle, Alec, and Jace. Alec and Isabelle looked at her calmly as they appeared to be in agreement with Jace’s first house rule.

“One, because the work we do nightly is dangerous and if someone got hurt on a hunt then we don’t need Mundanes running around the apartment as we tried to help our fellow injured Shadowhunter. Two, being that we all need a safe and quiet place to wind down and relax with each other. I don’t see any of that happening when we might have Mundanes coming in and out of the apartment. Our enemies would certainly notice and take advantage of them having that knowledge.”

Clary looks away, trying to ignore the turmoil currently in her heart.

Simon. 

Maureen.

They were her friends first and she didn’t like keeping them in the dark, but in her mind she understood Jace’s reasoning pretty well. And yet these three people in front of her were also her friends now. The best allies she currently had in the new strange world of the Shadowhunters that she had literally stumbled into.

She had to put their safety first before the need to see her human friends.

“Clary?”

She meets his gaze even as Alec brings Izzy a cup of water.

“I understand completely.”

Jace nods as he narrows his eyes in cautious suspicion at her, part of him calmly wondering why she was agreeing with him so easily as Izzy set her cup down on the little coffee table in front of her before turning her attention to poking her brother in his left side. Mentally she notes how Alec seems to be trying not make a sound or squirm as he tries to shy away from her poking finger without making it too obvious. 

“Good to hear. Now we can move on to other things. Izzy!”

“What?”

“Stop harassing your brother when you think I can’t see you doing it.”, Jace says as he seems to trying not to roll his eyes as he turns to look at the two siblings.

“Oh fine. You win this round Alec!”, Izzy answers dramatically, throwing herself lightly in the chair behind her.

“How grand for me.”, Alec answers with a small smile on his face.

Clary holds back a snicker as Jace rolls his eyes good naturedly and tries to get their friends to calm down so they can all come up with house rules that everyone might agree on.

0

Talking to her friends is usually a fairly good way at putting a smile on her face.

“So you got a new place?”, Maureen asked excitedly.

“Yeah.”

She tries not to wince at the loud excited shriek in her ear.

“Oh, that’s so cool! Great even! Do you need help with setting anything up? When we can come see it?”

Her smile dips low before completely disappearing into a frown at the questions and the excitement from her friends. She wants to share in that excitement with them, to show them around her new place. Then her eyes glance over at Izzy who’s reclining with a magazine on the sofa nearby and she has the strong urge to protect her friend, her teammate.

“Clary?”

“I….”

“Clary? Clary, what is it? Is everything alright?”, Maureen asked sounding very concerned by her disquiet.

Right as she thinks to answer her friend’s question, Isabelle looks up from her magazine and calmly meets her gaze. She sees the right answer in those calm beautiful dark eyes staring right back at her.

“Clary?”

Appearing amused, Isabelle tilts her head slightly towards her and she’s instantly reminded of the phone call with her friend. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment, she forces herself to look from the other girl.

“Ah right. I think we pretty much have everything handled right now. Sorry it’s just not good time to have visitors over right now, Maureen.”

“Alright if you say so, Clary. Just call if you need anything.”, Maureen answered, the confusion very noticeable in her tone of voice.

“Right.”

She also realizes at the end of the conversation as she stares at the little phone in her hand that she doesn’t really know how to explain to her slightly overprotective friend why she’s suddenly living in a sparsely furnished apartment with three other people.

0

“Does it bother you at all that Jace sometimes wanders in and out of your brother’s room? Or Alec seems fairly keen on returning the favor?”

Isabelle looks up from her meal at Clary’s question and considers her answer as she looks away. Does is bother her? Maybe once it had when she was much younger, before she had really understood what _Parabatai_ and partnership really meant for their people.

“Izzy?”

She shakes her head before meeting Clary’s questioning gaze.

“No, it doesn’t bother me. Maybe it did when I was much younger before I really understood. But not so much anymore.”

“Understood what?”

She smiles to herself as she reminds herself that Clary will likely always have questions to ask them before she feels confident enough to not have any questions. Warmth blooms in her heart that Clary chooses to come to her with most, if not nearly all of her questions.

“That they are both partner and _Parabatai_. They have that right to be in each others space intimately. I guess they’re trying to get you used to seeing them do that because they will do it a lot more now that they have a more private space.”

Isabelle watches as Clary tilts her head.

“What is _Parabatai_?”, Clary asks her tone of voice quietly curious.

“It is one of our people’s most sacred rights. It is a time during every young Shadowhunter’s life where they are looking one - if they want too -. But not every Shadowhunter will find one since it isn’t really required to have one. Just ask Jace or Alec about it sometime.”

“You don’t have one, do you?”

“No, I don’t.” She shakes her head, then brushes some hair back behind her left ear and meets Clary’s curious gaze.

“But you would like to have one, wouldn’t you?”

Clary’s voice has a note of certainty as she shrugs her shoulder a bit too in response.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m well past the age of where Shadowhunters are allowed to look for their _Parabatai_. I have never heard of the Council making an exception for someone at my age level.”

“Hm.”

Clary glances towards the hallway where their bedrooms are located then back at her and leans towards her conspiratorily.

“Would that explain why sometimes I keep running into Magnus as he’s coming out of their rooms?”

Isabelle is glad that she’s able to keep a straight face at the question without giving herself or her thoughts away about that particular question. Though she is squealing in the privacy of her own mind over it. Really because finally, _hopefully_ , those three have figured out something that works for all three of them.

“I have no answer for that particular question, Clary.”

Straight faced Isabelle turns her attention back to her meal and ignores Clary’s prodding attempts to make her answer the question as she eats.

Maybe there’s hope yet for her to figure out where she and Clary might stand with each other.

0

_Three Months later:_

“Clary!”

The door of their shared apartment slams open and Jace looks up as a furious Clary storms inside with an equally furious Isabelle coming in right behind her. He notes the vague smell of brimstone and how dirty the two of them are as Alec comes to his side. He looks up at him from his chair and notes the smudges of dirt on his face and forehead, taking note of the pinched expression on his face.

Alec stops near him and he reaches over to tug lightly on the torn sleeve nearest to him as they hear Clary and Izzy start yelling at each other. Alec looks down to meet his gaze and shakes his head at the silent question in his eyes.

A body being shoved roughly into the wall has him looking back towards the two girls, to find that a still furious Clary had pinned Izzy against the far wall. He was surprised that Izzy was letting her do it when she had most experience between them and she could have easily slipped out of Clary’s grasp or broken her wrist to do it.

He makes a move to stand up and intervene between them, but is stopped by Alec putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing lightly it once. He looks at him with a raised eyebrow and Alec shakes his head. The message is clear in his expression; leave the girls to figure themselves out after months of dancing around whatever feelings they had for each other. Sighing softly Jace acquiesces to the silent request.

“Clary, please!”

“I told you that I had it!”

“No, you didn’t, Clary!”

At that moment, finally Izzy forces her way out of Clary’s hold and pushes her away from her roughly. Clary crosses her arms over her chest as she meets Izzy’s glare with one of her own.

“I did have it.”

Jace watches as Isabelle shoves her fingers into her hair and makes a pained sound as she started pacing in front of Clary.

“Yeah you had the one in front of you. But you didn’t see one of the Forsaken that was coming up behind you.”

Annoyed and exasperated, Clary throws her hands into the air.

“I would have handled it, Izzy! I can do this just as well as you or Jace!”

Jace watches as Izzy finally stops pacing to stand in front of Clary, her hands falling away from her hair. Izzy takes one step towards her, tension radiating through her party.

“No you couldn’t have! The Forsaken are not that easy to handle take down in a fight. Even on your own it is hard to do. Trust me, Clary, I have tried! I have watched the people I considered friends try and fall to a Forsaken. An uncle to Alec and I fell to one while he was showing us the ropes of fighting in a city outside of the training center of the Institute. I can’t watch that happen with you. I can’t.”

If Izzy had been anyone else, Jace would be convinced that she might be breaking because of some unseen force and with tears running down her face. It was a difficult image for him to compare with a strong soul like Izzy.

“Izzy.”, Clary said, her voice small.

“I can’t. Don’t make me watch you get yourself killed because some of stupid need to prove yourself to us, Clary.” Izzy has now taken more steps towards her, so that at the end of it Clary is the one with her back against a wall. “Would you like to know why that is? Why it is so difficult for me?”

“Why is it like that Izzy?”, Clary asks with a small steady voice as she meets Isabelle’s eyes.

“Because I love you.”

Finally they come to the head of the matter, Jace thinks as he glances up at Alec who meets his gaze with a small smile. 

He turns his attention back to them just to in time to see Isabelle wrap her arms around Clary, who gasps as Izzy hugs her tightly and shudders before wrapping her arms just as tightly around Izzy. Her hands taking hold of Izzy’s clothes tightly. Part of Jace’s mind wonders how long it has been since Clary had let someone just hold her or give her a hug?

“I love you too.”

Another part of him wondered how effective this revelation would make them in the field or if it will change the views of their superiors. Yet as he watches them hug each other and as her stepbrother, he’s happy that Izzy is trying to find some measure of happiness for herself in this world.

 

Waking up the next morning, Clary realized that she had her arms wrapped around a still sleeping Izzy. Sharing a bed like Izzy had allowed her to share clothes until something new could be found for her. Feeling brave, Clary scooted closer to her friend (her new lover? Her girlfriend?) and watched her sleep quietly as the sun’s light tried to shine through and underneath the thick curtains they used for the bedroom, brightening Izzy’s skin with its light. 

There was still things that they needed to discuss and they did have time to discuss it.

Like how they seemed to even share a bed so well when Clary was actually rather certain that neither of them had shared a bed together before now. She still didn’t quite know what _Parabatai_ was for Isabelle or her fellow Shadowhunters, but she felt that she had some time to learn more about it.


End file.
